Tszyu vs. Fundora Preview
The T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada will host a quintet of title fights on Saturday, March 30th. In the main event, WBO junior middleweight champion Tim Tszyu will defend his title against former WBC interim champion Sebastian Fundora. The fight will also be for the vacant WBC title.
The main event was originally scheduled to be Tszyu to face former champion Keith Thurman at a catchweight of 155 pounds, but Thurman was forced to withdraw due to injury. Fundora will step in on short notice to fight for the titles.
Tsyzyu (24-0, 17 KO) retained the title for the first time in his last fight against with a unanimous decision victory over Brian Mendoza in October. Tszyu became interim champion last March with a ninth round TKO of former champion Tony Harrison and then defended that title in June with a first round KO of Carlos Ocampo. He was promoted to regular champion shortly before the fight with Mendoza.
The Australian fighter is motivated by the change in opponent. "It's a different feel, this fight. I wouldn't say it's a feeling of anger but it has just been built up and it's time to prove," Tszyu said. "I'm literally firing right now and I feel different. I think it just came from the news that Thurman is out.
"Before, I was too relaxed. Now, I'm not. I haven't felt this way in a long time."
The 29-year-old continued, "A lot of growth is happening. I'm going from training camp to training camp to training camp," Tszyu said. "Four fights in 12 months and that pays off. I'm getting better and better each time. I'm learning new things in the game. I'm just willing to test myself out every time.
"I think it's quite obvious -- [Fundora] is tall. But he uses his uppercuts to his advantage and they are quite long. A lot of people have the same gameplan to just get inside because he is so tall. But they also underestimate my skills."
Tszyu was prepared for Thurman but feels like he knows how to defeat Fundora. "Compared to Thurman, of course, it's a completely different gameplan," Tszyu said. "I know what to do with southpaws and I know how to fight tall guys. It's all about adjustments and even though we haven't had much time, they have been made. In one day, two hours. It was one session.
"I'm going to hurt him bad. That's the plan. Someone in the crowd is going to catch a head flying. That's the plan."
The champion has only fought outside of Australia once and he will be taking his talents under the bright lights of Las Vegas for the first time. There have been talks that with a win, he could be matched up with pound for pound great Terence Crawford. What does he think?
"[Crawford] is an opportunity to become a great, for sure," Tszyu said. "This is the first opportunity to do things that no one else does and to save the show [and] to still start this historic card. Once the opportunity arises for Crawford, that's going to be a war.”
He concluded, "I guess you could say I feel right at home [fighting in Las Vegas for the first time]. This is business, I get to relax later."
Fundora will be trying to rebound from a seventh round KO loss to Brian Mendoza last April, where he lost the WBC junior middleweight title. The 26-year-old commented on his first career loss. “I got a reminder – you can’t play boxing. You cannot play boxing,” Fundora said.
He continued, “You cannot make these mistakes. Small, little mistakes, you cannot make ’em because if you do, you pay for it, and that’s what I got in that fight.”
Fundora has an aggressive style that is fan pleasing, but he must fight a smarter fight against Tszyu. He believes he has made the necessary changes in his training. “What I like the most about myself right now is using my brain more,” he said. “I’m a smarter fighter. I’ve gone back to the basics.”
While he has taken the fight on short notice, Fundora believes he is ready to shock the world. “This opportunity is a big surprise, but it is a good surprise. The way I was training we would be ready for what I would say anybody. The fast that we get this fight now, I would say everything is lined up right.”
Tszyu is considered by many in the boxing world to be a future star, but Fundora can spoil that on Saturday. Fundora poses a new threat unlike any Tszyu has seen thus far, standing at 6’5. He was using his range well in the earlier part of the Mendoza fight but like he said, he got sloppy. If he can keep Tszyu from getting inside and avoid his power shots, he could cause problems for the champion.
Also on the main card is a fight for the WBA junior welterweight title. Champion Rolando Romero will defend against former title challenger Isaac Cruz.
Romero won the vacant title in his last fight with a ninth round TKO of Ismael Barroso last May. The victory was a big rebound from the first loss of his career where he suffered a sixth round TKO at the hands of Gervonta Davis.
Romero is not impressed with his challenger. “He’s not that unique,” Romero said. “I fight guys like him all the time. This has probably been the easiest time I’ve ever had finding sparring in my life. He can be replicated; I can’t. My style goes hand in hand with my personality – it’s unique.”
The talk of this fight has been how will Romero handle the pressure of Cruz. Romero responded to Cruz and his critics. “If you want to come right at me and get cracked, go for it,” Romero said. “He can do all that stuff with the small guys he fights, but I’m a big fighter and I hit harder than anyone at the weight class. I’m always here to go for the knockout and to go for the kill. I’m not here to just touch you – I want to pop you.
“I’m gonna knock him out. He’s gonna come forward and I’m gonna stop him. He gets hit with everything, so it could be any kind of punch.”
Cruz battled Davis to hard fought decision loss back in 2021. Many pundits believe he has more valuable experience than Romero. The champion is ready to put an end to the talk. “All I am doing right now is getting ready to shut his mouth, punch by punch,” Cruz said. “With every punch, he is going to talk a little less.”
Since losing to Davis, Cruz has won three straight fights. He most recently defeated Giovanni Cabrera by split decision in July. The Mexican fighter knows he has something to prove on Saturday. “All I can do is prove to everyone why I am deserving of this shot to be a world champion and why I should be in the biggest fights,” Cruz said.
Cruz will be fighting at 140 pounds for the first time in his career. How does he feel? “This is huge motivation,” he said. “It’s a great source of happiness for me. I’m channeling that into really training hard so I can make a great impression at 140 pounds.”
“All I can do is prove to everyone why I am deserving of this shot to be a world champion and why I should be in the biggest fights.”
While Cruz has predicted a knockout, he is ready for any kind of fight. “I’m ready for all 12 rounds, for whatever is going to happen,” he said. “… I’m really happy to be part of the first ever broadcast of Prime Video with PBC. It’s going to be really exciting.”
Two other title fights will be on the undercard on Saturday. Erislandy Lara will defend his WBA middleweight title against Michael Zerafa and Brian Mendoza will defend his interim WBC junior middleweight title against Serhii Bohachuck.
